Indonesia sacks football coach Shin in pursuit of 2026 World Cup spot | Football news

South Korea coach Shin Tae-yong has been sacked after four years leading the Indonesian Football Association in its bid to qualify for the World Cup.

Indonesia has sacked its football coach, Shin Tae-yong, after the country’s football chief said the team needed stronger leadership in its fight for a place in the 2026 World Cup.

“We need leadership that implements the strategies agreed upon with the players, communicates better, and implements better programs for our national team,” Indonesian Football Federation president Eric Tohir said in a press conference on Monday.

Thohir said that Shin’s work with the team had “ended” and that his replacement, whom he declined to name, would arrive in Indonesia on January 11.

The Southeast Asian country has tens of millions of passionate soccer fans, but Indonesia’s only World Cup appearance came during Dutch rule in 1938, and the country has rarely threatened a comeback since its independence in 1945.

Indonesia occupies third place in its World Cup group after six of ten matches, one point behind Australia in the fight for direct second place in the finals.

If they finish third or fourth, they can still reach the North American finals through further rounds of qualifying and the inter-continental play-off.

Thohir, who said he had interviewed three candidates to succeed Shane during his recent trip to Europe, was not concerned that a mid-season coaching change might disrupt the team.

“It’s normal. Many countries change their coaches during World Cup qualifiers,” he added.

“We have been discussing this for several months, but I think the moment is right, because we still have two and a half months to prepare for the upcoming matches.

We still have four games to go and we want to get as many points as possible.

South Korean Shin took over as coach of the team in 2019, and Thohir said that he would receive compensation for the remainder of his contract, which extends until 2027.

Shin took advantage of the PSSI policy to entice members of the Indonesian diaspora, most of whom were born in the Netherlands, to play for the national team.

Indonesia was the only country in Southeast Asia to reach the third round of qualifying, and last November Saudi Arabia stunned the regional powerhouse with a 2-0 score in Jakarta.